The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett [194]
Nicholas said, ‘You said you have a plumb line?’
He saw the flash of her teeth as she smiled. Below and above, servants were waiting with torches. She said, ‘A canny man, your Nicholas de Fleury. Aye. There you are.’
The object she produced from her cloak was a toy: a ball of hazelwood on the end of a long hempen string. With a little work, it would have made a good farmuk. Nicholas took the string between finger and thumb and let the thing dangle at arm’s length, the ball at its end swaying gently. It gleamed faintly in the dim torchlight, its shadow lost in the blackness of theirs. He watched, keeping still.
The ball was increasing its swing. The cord rocked in his grasp: he tightened his grip of it. The swing became stronger and wilder. Now it described not a line but an oval, a circle. The ball cast itself outwards, dragging, leaping, and began to gyrate in a large ragged ring with a power that made his arm crack and began to flay the skin from his finger. It made a moaning sound, circling: Oh mill! Oh mill! Oh mill! Oh mill! Oh mill!
It throbbed and growled: What hast thou ground?
Nicholas hurled the thing from him.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Well, you’re as well to know. Come. We’ll be catching our deaths.’
Chapter 27
I FORBID IT,’ said Father Moriz. ‘Whatever my secular training, I have your souls in my charge. The Duke defied the Church; now the Duchess dabbles in wickedness. You will refuse, or I leave.’
The German gnome had turned into a firebrand. Fortunately, Nicholas thought, they had been given some time alone, he and John and the priest, before the Duchess commanded their company. The lodge being small, they were crowded into a room the size of a garderobe, but at least they weren’t outside under canvas. He felt as if he had either just been very ill, or was about to be. He said, ‘All right, I agree. I don’t do that again.’ He sucked his forefinger, which kept bleeding.
‘Well, we know why,’ said John. ‘You were scared bloodless, admit it. Of a bob on a string? All right: I’ve never seen it done that way before, but divining-rods aren’t new. The Queen of Sheba walked in on her webbed feet and gave the secret to Solomon.’
‘I suppose it’s a precedent,’ Nicholas said.
John calmed. He said, ‘Well, you suffered a shock. But, Father, the finding of water can’t be a sin? Moses did it.’
‘The Lord God is speaking through Nicholas?’ the priest said. ‘Or just through Eleanor of Scotland’s webbed boots?’
Nicholas said, ‘I don’t think you can fault her private life or her faith. The Tyrol needs silver. It argues courage to seek it in this way.’
‘She let you take the risk,’ said Father Moriz. ‘What happened to the diviner she spoke of?’
‘He died,’ Nicholas said. ‘She didn’t hide anything. She arranged for you, a priest, to attend. We are not being compelled to do this.’
‘But we’ll lose our chance at the mines,’ said le Grant. ‘Moriz, if we used a rod and found another Tolfa in Italy, would the Holy Father condemn us?’
Father Moriz put his hands on his knees. He said, ‘The Pope is in Rome. Nicholas is here, and in danger. If the Pope endorses the divining practice, then I might change my mind. On the other hand, I might not.’
‘Moriz!’ said John. ‘Such uncanonical pride! What would the Cardinal say?’
‘Nothing,’ said Nicholas. ‘He’s dead, after an acrimonious dispute with the Duke over silver mines. Do you suppose Nicholas of Cusa used rods?’
‘I thought you didn’t want this,’ said the priest. His face, coarse as a tuber, was attentive and his eyebrows stood out like brushes. He said, ‘I saw what happened.’
John said nothing. Nicholas said, ‘I may not want it, but I shan’t stand in your way. It is for you and John to argue it out.’
‘But you must have some view,’ the priest said.
Nicholas said, ‘It is a mystery. The end product is potentially good. If I felt physically threatened, perhaps I simply wasn’t prepared. It was also a … vivid experience in other ways. One would have